Natural Resources

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Transcript of Natural Resources

What are natural resources ?Why are natural resources running out at such a rapid rate ?What Are The Major Factors Leading To This Issue ?World Population GrowthMaterial EconomyConsumerismEcological FootprintsThe "Big Four" BRIC CountriesNatural ResourcesNatural resources are materials or substances such as minerals, forests, air, water, fossil fuels, fertile land, etc. that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.The earth is a beautiful place that has many useful "finite" natural resources. But they are under a great threat as man started the industrial and urban revolutionWorld Population GrowthThe great exponential growth in the world population is continuously putting a high demand on the natural resources and land space.It is estimated that by the year 2070, the world population will grow so high that all of the earths "finite" habitable land will be occupied by people of various ages. Many habitats will be destroyed and majority of the resources will be all wiped out.Demands include wood for new homes that come from deforestation, more coal, oil etc to power those houses, food, clothing and many more.Material EconomyTypes of Natural ResourcesThere are two primary types of natural resources.-> Renewable Resources: can be defined as any natural resource (as wood or solar energy) that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time-> Non-renewable Resources:

can be defined as any natural resource (as coal or oil) from the Earth that exists in limited supply and cannot be replaced if it is used up; also, any natural resource that cannot be replenished by natural means at the same rates that it is consumedAs years pass, the Non-renewable Resources

are in extreme danger as they are so sawed after by man because they are big "money makers" as they currently power majority of the world.Causes of Natural Resource DepletionOver consumption / Excessive or unnecessary use of resourcesOver populationInequitable distribution of resources.Technological and industrial development.Erosion.Irrigation.Mining for oil and minerals.Drainage of wetlands / aquifier depletionDeforestation and forest fires.Slash and Burn.Pollution or contamination of natural resources. Habitat degradation and Many more...ConsumerismConsumerism can be defined as a modern movement for the protection of the consumer against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, unfair pricing, etc.This basically means that people in this generation are buying "things" that they don't actually need, (shopping for a pair of shoes but end up buying 3 because of their style, discount, colour, etc) but are fooled into desiring it, mostly through advertising. This puts high demands on natural resources because these "things" need to be manufactured through many different resources and buying them just encourages more of the product to be manufactured by the companies to gain profits.Ecological FootprintsMaterial economy in other terms is capitalism where an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned (government) means of wealth.This revolves around the concept of "Free trade". The ability to start your own business and compete with other companies.This forces the companies to expand and make more money to stay on top of the "competition" so they destroy more and more natural resources to make their products and process them through extraction, production, distribution, and consumption.Majority of the companies are money oriented and don't realize how much damage they are doing to the environment. They don't really care about the natural resources running out and are very good at hiding the natural resource depletion with the public.For ex: competition between Lazy Boy furniture store and Leons Furniture store.

An ecological footprint is the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.Almost everything that an average person in a city buys or does to sustain their life weather it is consuming food, entertainment, etc. it goes into their ecological footprint because these things at some point go through processing which requires vast amount of natural resources.Ex: a television set not only needs great amounts of natural resources such as minerals and metals to be manufactured, but also needs constant supply of energy from power plants that comes mainly from burning of fossil fuels. All of this accounts into one's ecological footprint.It is estimated that if every person in the world lives like a average American, we will need 5 planet earth's to sustain life and to provide all the sufficient resourcesThe "Big Four" BRIC CountriesThe BRIC countries are Brazil, Russia, India and China which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development.

China and India are the world's dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services including medicine and respectively, Brazil and Russia are similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials necessary to manufacture goods.These countries have so many resources that majority of the products in the world are manufactured in these places.For ex: Almost all of the electronics in the world are manufactured in China. "Since 1978, India is the primary center for pharmaceutical and medicine production in the world" -Dr. Oz, Both China and India are the world leading manufacturers in clothing industry. Brazil and Russia supply majority of the world's natural resourcesIt is estimated that by year 2050, these four economies would be wealthier than most of the current major economic powers.Why are our precious renewable resources, water and air becoming increasingly toxic to us ?The biggest reason for water and air intoxication is pollution caused by us humans.WATERWater intoxication occurs when a body of water is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water.The sources of water intoxication are categorized as being a point source or a non-source point.Point sources occur when the polluting substance is emitted directly into the waterway. A pipe depositing toxic chemicals from an industry directly into a river or lake is an example.A non-point source occurs when there is runoff of pollutants into a waterway, for instance when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by surface runoff.What Is Water Intoxication ?

Toxic substance is a chemical pollutant that is not a naturally occurring substance in aquatic ecosystems.The greatest contributors to toxicity in water systems are herbicides, pesticides and industrial compounds.Industrial compounds are usually dumped into rivers and lakes for "cheaper" disposal especially in developed countries because it costs money for toxic substances to be safely disposed.Agricultural compounds such as pesticides make their way into water systems through run off from rain, or simply leaking down into ground water systems.Organic SubstancesOrganic pollution occurs when an excess of organic matter, such as manure or sewage, enters the water. When organic matter increases in a water reservoir, the number of decomposers will increase. These decomposers grow rapidly and use a great deal of oxygen during their growth. Lack of oxygen can kill aquatic organisms.As the aquatic organisms die, they are broken down by decomposers which leads to further depletion of the oxygen levels. (The impact of this oxygen depletion will be explained in next

slide)Temperature increase of waterThermal pollution can occur when water is used as a coolant near a power or industrial plant and then is returned to the aquatic environment at a higher temperature than it was originally.This increase in temperature can lead to a decrease in the dissolved oxygen level in the water while also increasing the biological demand of aquatic organisms for oxygen.This further leads to the death of aquatic life as there is no oxygen to sustain them. As the dead life is decomposed by decomposers, more oxygen will be depleted and many toxic byproducts are produced such as ammonia which is extremely toxic if ingested in high concentrations and causes euthrophication.Ecological PollutionThis is not a major cause of water intoxication but is important to discuss since it does happenEcological pollution occurs when chemical, organic or thermal pollution are caused by nature rather than by human activity.Examples include volcanic eruptions, floods mixing lots of wastes in water resources.FarmingFarms often use large amounts of herbicides and pesticides, both of which are toxic pollutant that can build up over time.Farms also frequently use large amounts of chemical fertilizers that are washed into the waterways and damage the water supply and the life within it.Fertilizers can increase the amounts of nitrates and phosphates in the water, which can lead to the process of eutrophication. Unsafe disposal and manufacture of pesticides and fertilizers is a major issue in developing countries.Industries and BusinessesWaste and sewage generated by industry can get into the water supply, introducing large organic pollutants into the ecosystem. Many industrial and power plants use rivers, streams and lakes to dispose of waste heat. The resulting hot water can cause thermal pollution. Water can become contaminated with toxic or radioactive materials from industry, mine sites and abandoned hazardous waste sites.In undeveloped countries, the sewage is usually not treated, but directly dumped into the sea or water bodies. This is VERY dangerous because they contaminate the environment and water bodies and bring many deadly diseases to people.Acid RainsAcid rains are caused when the burning of fossil fuels emits sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.The sulfur dioxide reacts with the water in the atmosphere, creating rainfall which contains sulfuric acid.As acid precipitation falls into lakes, streams and ponds it can lower the overall pH of the waterway, killing vital plant life, thereby affecting the whole food chain.It also leach heavy metals from the soil into the water, increasing its toxicity.HomesSewage generated by houses or runoff from septic tanks into nearby waterways, introduce organic pollutants that can cause eutrophication. Fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used for lawn care in households can runoff and contaminate the waterways. Home fertilizers have same effects as agricultural fertilizers. Improper disposal of hazardous chemicals such as toilet cleaners down the drain introduce toxic materials into the ecosystem, contaminating the water supplies.Leaks of oil and antifreeze from a car on a driveway can be washed off by the rain into nearby waterways, toxicating them. Other Major SourcesHormones, birth control pills, etc are dumped into sewers daily and this is increasing the estrogen and progesterone levels in the water systems. This is not a toxic issue but it is impacting the growth of children recently giving them characteristics of opposite sex.Cleaning supplies such as strong acids and bases are usually dumped straight into the sewer systems from houses. This increases the acidity of the water as well as deposit large amounts of heavy metals making water toxic.In cold countries, the salt used to melt the snow often melts and runs off into ground water and other freshwater resources (also other things such as car coolants, oil, etc) increasing the salinity of the water which in the end kills some delicate freshwater species.Some pollutants don't easily dissolve in water. This material is called particulate matter. Some suspended pollutants settle in the tissues of animals.AIRWhat Is Air Intoxication / PollutionAir pollution occurs when gases, dust particles, fumes, smoke or odour are introduced and contaminate the atmosphere in a way that makes it harmful to humans, animals and plant life.Primary pollutants are those gases or particles that are pumped into the air to make it unclean. They include carbon monoxide from automobile exhausts and sulfur dioxide from the combustion of coal.Secondary pollutants occur when pollutants in the air mix up in a chemical reaction, they form an even more dangerous chemical. Photochemical smog is an example of this, and is a secondary pollutant.

Paper, food, plastic, rubber, metallic and aluminum waste are being constantly deposited into the sea and other water bodies in many countries. All these waste types take time to decompose and also greatly affect the health of marine life as well as humansOcean and Marine DumpingWhat Are The Causes Of Air IntoxicationEmissions From Factories and IndustriesStationary sources such as waste incinerators, manufacturing industries, furnaces, power plants, and other types of fuel-burning devices emit high levels of carbon monoxide, organic compounds, greenhouse gases, and chemicals into the air.This is a major issue in almost all cities across the world.The air pollution in Toronto, Canada is so high that it can be easily detected by individuals from far away. (lots of companies, airports, large population, cars, constructions, etc)Petroleum refineries also release lots of hydrocarbons into the air. In developing and poor countries, traditional biomass burning is the major source of air pollutants; traditional biomass includes wood, crop waste and dungThere are two types of sources of air intoication and it is natural or caused by humans.Natural sources of pollutants include forest fires, wind-blown dust and volcanoes.Human sources include emissions from fossil fuel burning (oil, gas and coal), wood burning and stirred-up dust from vehicles or construction.The amount of human sources of emissions outweigh the natural sources by a huge ratio so this presentation will be focused more on human impacts and the major sources.SourcesBurning of Fossil FuelsAfter the industrial age and World War Era, transportation has become a key part of our lives. Cars and heavy duty trucks, trains, shipping vessels and airplanes all work on combustion of fossil fuels.Emissions from automobile engines contain both primary and secondary pollutants. This is a major cause of pollution, and one that is very difficult to manage. This is because we, humans rely heavily on vehicles and engines for transporting people, good and services.Innovative technology have been recently coming out with all electric cars, hybrids, etc. But the problem with these technologies is that they still need an energy source such as an electrical outlet to "charge" them and this electricity does come from power plants that burn fossil fuels so it still accounts into a persons ecological footprint.Fumes from car exhaust contain dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons and particulates. On their own, they cause great harm to people who breath them. Additionally, they react with environmental gases to create further toxic gases and acid rain.Crop dusting, fumigating homes, household cleaning products or painting supplies, over the counter insect/pest killers, room fresheners, fertilizer dust emit harmful chemicals into the air and cause pollution.In many case, when we use these chemicals at home or offices with no or little ventilation, we may fall ill and develop several respiratory diseases if we breathe them for long periods of time.Many household and industrial appliances use coolants such as refrigerators, freezers, etc. emit chlorofluorocarbons that aid in depletion of the ozone layer and also pollute the air.Substances such as asbestos in walls for older houses, Teflon in non-stick cooking utensils, etc are known to causes serious neuromuscular problems to humans and animalsHousehold and Farming ChemicalsForest Fires (Man made)Due to the high exponential rate of global population, demand for habitable land is also increasing at the same rateIn developed countries, vast amounts of forest space is destroyed on a daily basis

killing many animals and their habitats and the primary, most economically cheap way in doing so is by starting forest fires to clear the land.Emissions from forest fires can travel large distances, affecting air quality and human health far from the originating fires. These emissions include: particulate matter, carbon monoxide and dioxide, atmospheric mercury, ozone-forming chemicals, and volatile organic compounds.Military ResourcesMilitary resources such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and rocketry all contribute to air pollution,radioactivity and many other disastrous environmental impacts as seen in World War II. How Can You Reduce Your Ecological Footprint ?Drop two unopened

diet coke cans in every toilet in your house. Overtime, this GREATLY reduces the amount of unnecessary water lost into the sewage system.Since the coke cans are less dense than water, they will also rise to the top layer of water and does not get in contact with any mechanisms of the toilet.Also turning taps off during brushing teeth, fixing all leaking taps, using a bucket in bath tub and limiting to 2-3 buckets of water per shower will reduce water consumption.Use public transit, bike (during summer), or simply walk to get around in a city and avoid driving a car when traveling by yourself. This reduces unwanted waste of already expensive natural resourcesChange all the lights in your house to energy efficient, Energy Star Rated light bulbs. These use 80-95% less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs.Lower your thermostat temperatures to around 15-18 degrees Celsius during winter, and use sweaters and blankets during night. Completely shut off the thermostat during summer. This not only decreases the energy bills, but also reduce our ecological footprint.Making your home energy efficient by insulating it with quality materials, etc will also help. Also heat only the rooms that are being used. For ex: do not heat basements during winter.Reduce, Reuse and Recyle as much as possibleReduce - to buy less and use less. turning off the lights, rain barrels, and taking shorter showers, but also plays a part in composting, low flow toilets, programmable thermostats, carpooling, etc.Reuse - elements of the discarded item are used again. This includes attending garage sales, travel mugs and reusable water bottles, composting, buying from thrift shops, etc.Recycle - discards are separated into materials that may be incorporated into new products. This includes buying products with a high content of post-consumer material, reuse back side of waste paper, etc.Batteries are used in almost every gadget in households such as computer mouse, remotes, toys, clocks, etc. Use good quality rechargeable batteries so that they not only last for a very long time, but also reduces the amount of metals need to be mined, and also helps reduce the contamination of substances such as ground water, soil, etc. caused by leaking of old batteries.Buy food that is not heavily packaged with Styrofoam, plastic wrapping, etc. Instead shop at farmers markets where you not only get fresh food, but also reduce packaging waste greatly. To make this even better, use reusable shopping bags in order to reduce plastic bags.Grow your own fruits and vegetables in the backyard and don't waste food. Combining these actions could reduce your footprint by 11%. Growing your own fruit and vegetables reduces all the energy and waste which normally goes into getting food from the field to our plates – such as transport, refrigeration and packaging. Appliances such as refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. are used in almost every single house all around the world on a daily basis. Investing in energy efficient appliances will greatly reduce energy consumption, bills etc. as well as last for an extremely long time.If replacing an older vehicle or just buying a new one for a family member, consider the following:Buy alternative fuel vehicles such hybrids, electric cars, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, etc. These might seem a little expensive but are extremely environment friendly, produce close to 0 emissions, etc.Try sharing vehicles, giving or getting rides from people that go to the same work places or destinations as you are.Combine multiple journeys into one, do the weekly shopping in a single trip. Avoid harsh braking, accelerate gently, drive at a steady speed. Keep tires properly inflated.Travel light. Carrying unnecessary weight wastes fuel.Keep your vehicle regularly serviced. Turn the engine off when stopped or waiting. Substances leading to Water IntoxicationToxic SubstancesWood: RenewableCoal: Non-RenewableThe graph above shows the great exponential growth in world population in just 200 years from 1800-2000Linear system of a manufacturing process for a productPesticides being sprayed onto cropsA factory dumping hot waste water directly into a water systemVariety of pesticides, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides commonly used for agricultural practicesUntreated water from a coal power plant directly poured into river in ChinaA white marble statue corroded by acid rainLeaked stuff from cars such as engine coolants, engine oil, etc. gets run-off into ground water systems though rainChimneys from industries spewing out pollutant gases including sulfur dioxide that aids in acid rainCars emitting pollutants from combustion of green house gasesSprays such as air fresheners and cologne that you have at home are toxic if breathe in large concentrations or over time"Slash and Burn" practices are being done in developing countries to clear forests in order to create crop landsThank You for attending this meeting and hopefully you will continue ensuring and educating about natural resource sustainability and equality around the world which is a global crisis today. If something is not done about this now, the future generations have to deal with all the mess that we have created in just 200 years of earth's lifespan